2022 a personal review

2022 a personal review

I have called this post, 2022 a personal review because each year I try to bring a short Christmas thought to people who have time to read my blogging site Reviewinglifeexperiences.com.

Christmas 2021

I did start to write a post for Christmas 2021and I entitled it ‘2021 – not a complete disaster. I began to write about COVID-19 and my experience with my first vaccination. 

I was also going to talk about the reshuffle that took place at work that caused me a lot of anxiety at the time as my role was reduced from five positions down to three and I wasn’t successful in keeping my job. At the time I was devastated.

I was fortunate to get another position within the organisation I am working for but not before applying for eight different roles and having 5 interviews.

Going over it all again killed off the inspiration for that blog post, so I shelved it.

The year of our Lord 2022

2022 has been a kinder year for me personally, though it has been very eventful. I have a job in which I am working with a lot of data, and I enjoy the work and enjoy the creative part of interpreting and displaying the data in a non-technical way.

Events in 2022

2022 wasn’t without its significant events, I am sure like everyone something happened that was either life-changing or significant in some way, like a birth, a death, an anniversary a big birthday or a wedding. 

For some people, 2022 will be a memorable year and for others a year they want to forget. Whatever your year was like you can be satisfied that you made it through.

Cataract operation

On July the 1^st 2022, I had a life-changing, not lifesaving, but for me, it changed a few things, and that was an eye operation on cataracts in both my eyes. 

For nearly forty years I wore glasses all the time, excluding when I was sleeping of course. It should have been longer but throughout my teenage years and into my twenties I refused to wear glasses and have my eyes tested. That was because I was teased a lot in my younger years for wearing glasses and I could get by without them for many years.

When I reached 60’s my eyes sight changed again which required me to use two different types of glasses which were for close-up work and for distance. This was due to cataracts developing in my eyes.

I could not get on with two pairs of glasses as in my work I would be changing them every few minutes, I was also getting a lot of headaches. So after about a year of trying to cope, I decided to have a lens replacement surgery with Optical Express.

You can read about my pre-op cataract eye operation experience here

You can also read my post-op cataract operation experience here

5 Months after my cataract operation

It has now been over 5 months since I had the operation and at times I am still struggling with my vision. I can read closeup and see distances quite well without the aid of glasses. 

I sometimes struggle with bright lights and screens which cause me to squint for a short time, but I am told that will improve with time. My biggest issue since the cataract operation is that my eyelids have dropped a little causing my eyelashes to rub against my eyeball and cause irritation. This condition is called Ptosis which can affect older people but also I have read that eye surgery can cause it too.

I have spoken to my optician about this and after a couple of appointments to sort out the discomfort they have now referred me to the local hospital to the oculoplastic department to see if I can have surgery to lift my eyelids to relieve the discomfort I have, as I am aware of my eye discomfort all the time.

I guess that will be a blog post for 2023 if I am successful to have the operation.

2022 a year of technology

In 2022 I did also post about the technology that I had bought and tested out. 

In January 2022 my partner and I decided to purchase a new Mini Hifi system. I had a Sandstrom mini HiFi for many years but had played a CD in it for a long while, when I tried to use it, the draw would not open.

Sandstrøm, I believe is a Curry’s (Dixons Retail Group) own brand. So, we decided to get a new HiFi and after a little bit of research, we bought a Panasonic Mini HiFi which was within our price range and had everything we needed. You can read my review here.

2022 year of soundbars 

For many years I had a Sony MT500 soundbar, it served me well and is still working well now. But I began to look at what virtual Dolby Atmos was, and I began to get a little obsessed with owning a soundbar that could create a virtual Dolby Atmos surround sound effect.

As I have mentioned many times when it comes to a purchase, I always do my research first. I was looking at expert reviews, and owner’s reviews and comparing prices in-store and online. 

It may surprise you to know that some places will do price matching if you find the same product online cheaper than in-store then you may get it at the online price. I know that Curry’s does price matching.

You can read my blog post about my Dolby Atmos soundbar search here and also some information about what Dolby Atmos is.

I tried three soundbars out in my home in 2022 with positive and some negative results. The three soundbars I tried at home were the Sony HT-X8500 – Dolby Atmos all in one soundbar, The JBL Bar 5.0 Multibeam Soundbar. You can read why I chose to go with the JBL Bar 5.0 Multibeam Soundbar for a time here.

I am now using the Sony HT-G700 Dolby Atmos soundbar in my living room. Unlike the other two soundbars, I have tried this comes with a wireless subwoofer that I have placed behind my sofa so that not only do I get a good bass sound but I can feel it too. You can read my review of the Sony HT-G700 Dolby Atmos soundbar by clicking here.

Happy Christmas and 2023

We will soon be celebrating Christmas and my thoughts are with those people who are suffering from the financial crisis that the United Kingdom is facing. Please remember that keeping warm and fed is more important than buying Christmas presents. 

Maybe the best present you can give someone is a shopping voucher for food or something that will help people keep warm this winter.

We may be leaving 2022 less prosperous than we were at the beginning of 2022 but be kind and generous to yourselves and others around you. At times like this people need to pull together and many of them have never had to rely on the kindness and generosity of others, but if people want to help you let them.

I wish you a safe Christmas and New Year and I hope you will also continue to support my blog posts by visiting, commenting and if you like something you have read there then give it 5 stars on the page.

Read more

You can read my other posts from 2016 right up to 2022. To read more then click here. You can also subscribe to my website Reviewinglifeexperiences.com by clicking here. Your email address will only be used to send you an email when I post another blog on my website.